Mysterious Marcher
Sirs:
I usually accept my copy of TIME as being very close to the truth. It is surprising, therefore, to read in the Manitoba Free Press that the man you mention as a masseur in the late King George V's funeral is Constantin Cotalan, a member of the highest Rumanian military order of "Mihai Viteazul." . . .
Lou ADELMAN
Secretary
Winnipeg Rugby Football Club Winnipeg, Man.
Sirs:
... In the Feb. 10 issue of TIME there appeared under the heading Great Britain "Rounders & Bounders," the detailed story concerning one Masseur Stoebs, a commoner, and his appearance with the royalty group parading behind the coffin of the late King George V.
I showed same to one of my office friends, a loyal Briton.
Naturally he refused to believe that the TIME exposé was true and to substantiate I was shown a copy of the Daily Mirror (London) . . . and there was the duplicate of the picture of the Masseur Stoebs which appeared in TIME. The caption of the picture of Masseur Stoebs in the Daily Mirror was as follows:
"Foreign representatives in the procession through London. In civilian clothes among them is a member of the Rumanian order of Mihai Viteazul, the equivalent to the British V. C., representing Transylvania."
H. B. FLETCHER
Hartford, Conn.
Sirs:
. . . We have carefully looked over all the pictures we have preserved of [George V's funeral] and we fail to find any such figure as that of Mr. Stoebs anywhere, at any stage of the procession, much less next to King Carol. . . .
NELL AND BURGESS DEMPSTER
London, England
Sirs:
Will your self-correcting service dispose of the following item which I clip from the Manchester Guardian Weekly for Feb. 7, 1936. It concerns, of course, the mysterious stranger in the funeral procession of the late King George V.
E. J. KNAPTON
Norton, Mass.
In good faith and upon the best available information TIME identified, with picture, the mysterious marcher in the London funeral procession as Masseur Stoebs. Having discovered its error TIME now apologizes to all concerned. The Manchester Guardian identifies the mysterious marcher as follows:
"The name of the marcher is Constantin Golovan, and he is a school teacher in the Rumanian village of Drago-Slavele, in the district of Muscel. M. Golovan is a member of the highest Rumanian military order of 'Mihai Viteazul' (Michael the Brave), which was created in 1916 and corresponds to our Victoria Cross. . . . M. Golovan came to the funeral of King George as a member of the delegation of this order, which comprised also a Rumanian general and two colonels. A sublieutenant in a Chasseur regiment during the War, he won the coveted honor by valor in the field. . . . "In October 1916, under fierce enemy fire he succeeded in cutting an Austrian barbed wire entanglement and led a storming party to the capture of an important ridge position. By this deed he not only gained the highest military order of his country but a claim to be one of those to represent Rumania at the funeral of the King of England. Also he has inspired a Fleet Street legend that will be as difficult to kill as that of the Russian Army passing through England in trains during the War."—ED.